The present invention relates primarily to flashlights, and in particular, to miniature hand-held flashlights.
Although miniature flashlights have long been known in the art, it is only been recently, with the development of miniature flashlight lamp bulbs having superior light-emitting characteristics and with improvements in the reflective quality of in flashlight reflectors, that there has developed a genus of high quality miniature flashlights.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,263 issued to Maglica discloses one member of this genus. Maglica discloses a high quality, hermetically-sealed miniature flashlight having a rotating head assembly which is used to vary the relative positions of the bulb and the reflector in order to adjust the flashlight beam from broad and diffuse to narrow and concentrated. By continuing to rotate the head assembly so that it is translated towards the tail cap of the flashlight, the circuit between the bulb and the batteries is opened and the flashlight is shut off.
Due to their compact size and their superior light emitting characteristics, these high quality miniature flashlights are particularly useful in emergencies. In these situations, however, it is often the case that only one hand can be spared for operating the flashlight. Unfortunately, it is somewhat cumbersome to actuate the flashlight by rotating the head assembly with one hand. Furthermore, when the flashlight needs to be used as a flashing signal light, the rotating head assembly switch is inconvenient, even when two hands are used to operate the switch.
During a crisis, it is particularly critical that the integrity of the electrical contacts forming the flashlight's electrical circuit be maintained. Unfortunately, it is in precisely these circumstances that the flashlight is most likely to be dropped and damaged. If the flashlight is dropped, the disproportionately large percentage of the flashlight's mass located in the head assembly will give the flashlight a tendency to strike the ground head assembly first. This type of a fall will cause the flashlight's batteries to be driven against the forward wall of the battery retainer, thereby causing a disproportionately large percentage of the impact to be borne by the raised nipple of the positive terminal of the battery which rests against the front wall of the retainer. As a result of this impact force, the nipple may be crushed or dented; thereby, in view of the very small contact area of these miniature batteries, potentially interrupting the flashlight's electrical circuit.
Therefore, there is needed an improved miniature flashlight which overcomes the drawbacks of prior miniature flashlight designs, while retaining the waterproof and high quality light emitting features which have led to the widespread use of these flashlights.